Related Field
The present disclosure refers to a shock absorbing arrangement configured to withstand impact shock. The shock absorbing arrangement may e.g. be applied in order to protect sensitive, ship installed equipment such as radar antennas from impact shock caused by mine detonations at sea. Although the shock absorbing arrangement will be described with respect to a ship installed radar antenna, the disclosure is not restricted to this particular implementation but may also be used in other applications where protection of sensitive devices against impact shock or like is required. The present invention further relates to a shock absorbing structure comprising such shock absorbing arrangement.
Description of Related Art
Reliable and accurate radar functionality is essential for the operability of warships as well as for other military applications. In order for a radar device to compensate for the movements of e.g. the warship on which the radar antenna is rigidly arranged the fixed position of the radar and input from a gyro may be used. Even the smallest dislocation of a radar antenna from a presumed fix position will cause a significant deviation over distance and impair accuracy and functionality of the radar significantly, in worst case making the radar inoperable. Failure of the radar functionality of e.g. a warship might have disastrous consequences.
Thus, for radar antennas and also other highly sensitive equipment, where high accuracy is extremely important, even the smallest dislocation may be problematic and should be avoided by all possible means. This may be a problem e.g. for ship installed equipment where extremely rough sea and deliberate or unintentional mine detonations exposes such equipment for extremely high acceleration force, herein referred to as impact shock. Such impact shock may affect mechanical installations and thereby dislocate devices or equipment.
Radar antennas are generally arranged to ships by means of turntables, wherein the turntables may be mechanically rotatable and thereby e.g. providing the possibility to mechanically rotate or direct the radar antenna by means of a motor.
Current impact shock absorbing solutions often use complex systems relying on e.g. delicate hydraulic or pneumatic solutions and complex control algorithms. Such solutions are often costly, add significant weight and/or are bulky and are often not sufficiently robust for the rough conditions such installations may be exposed to.
Thus, there is a need of further improvements.
The requirement of extremely high accuracy and to the outmost avoiding even the smallest physical dislocation apply naturally also to other functionalities such as e.g. sensors and transceivers and also to other vehicle applications than warships.